Photo: Volkswagen
Now that everyone’s on board with electric vehicles, the race is on for those bright ideas that would make one carmaker better than all the others in this segment: increase the range and decrease charging times. One solution for these ideas to take shape is a solid-state battery.
Presently, the vast majority of electric cars use lithium-ion batteries to get around. This technology is based on a liquid electrolyte used to make current flow between the positive and negative electrodes - the anode and cathode.
Solid-state batteries use (you guessed) a solid electrolyte to do the same thing. Supposedly, solid electrolytes have several advantages over liquid ones, including a much faster charging time.
To get a head start and be involved in the emerging solid-state battery industry, Volkswagen announced in September 2018 it is becoming a majority shareholder of a company dedicated to this and called QuantumScape. The development was the result of a love story that started in 2012 and grew to entirely new levels this week.
Convinced solid-state is the way to go, VW said it is investing $200 million more in its American partner to help speed things along.
“Volkswagen is taking e-mobility to the mainstream. A strong position in the field of batteries is a decisive factor in this regard,” said in a statement Frank Blome, Head of the Battery Cell business, Volkswagen Group Components.
“We are securing our global supply base with efficient producers, gradually building up manufacturing capacities and driving the development of cutting-edge solid-state battery technology. Our focus in this context is on long-term strategic partnerships.”
With more electric cars in the pipeline than we can count, Volkswagen will probably become the biggest player in the segment, possibly even by the end of the decade. What’s more, it plans on sharing the EV technologies it develops with others, like it did with the MEB platform, which it will soon be using together with Ford.
Solid-state batteries use (you guessed) a solid electrolyte to do the same thing. Supposedly, solid electrolytes have several advantages over liquid ones, including a much faster charging time.
To get a head start and be involved in the emerging solid-state battery industry, Volkswagen announced in September 2018 it is becoming a majority shareholder of a company dedicated to this and called QuantumScape. The development was the result of a love story that started in 2012 and grew to entirely new levels this week.
Convinced solid-state is the way to go, VW said it is investing $200 million more in its American partner to help speed things along.
“Volkswagen is taking e-mobility to the mainstream. A strong position in the field of batteries is a decisive factor in this regard,” said in a statement Frank Blome, Head of the Battery Cell business, Volkswagen Group Components.
“We are securing our global supply base with efficient producers, gradually building up manufacturing capacities and driving the development of cutting-edge solid-state battery technology. Our focus in this context is on long-term strategic partnerships.”
With more electric cars in the pipeline than we can count, Volkswagen will probably become the biggest player in the segment, possibly even by the end of the decade. What’s more, it plans on sharing the EV technologies it develops with others, like it did with the MEB platform, which it will soon be using together with Ford.
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